Grain-door for freight-cars.



PATENTED AUG. 22, 1905.

L. A. THORSON. GRAIN DOOR FOR FREIGHT CARS.

APPLIUATION FILED MAY 13, 1905.

E I v w? Attqrneys UNITE il LUDTVVIG A. THORSON, OF MELVIN, MINNESOTA.

GRAIN-DOOR FOR FRElGHT-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 22, 1905..

Application filed May 13, 1905. Serial No. 260,310.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUDWIG A. THORSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Melvin, in the county of Folk and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Grain- Door for Freight-Oars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to inside doors or grain-doors for freight-cars, and has for its object to provide a novel mounting of the door, so as to enable the convenient elevation and swinging of the doors upwardly toward the roof of the car when not in use. It is also proposed to prevent binding of the door upon its guides as commonly occasioned by the bends produced in the ordinary form of guides by the operations of loading and unloading the car.

With these and other objects in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional view looking at the interior of a freight-ear with the inside doors of the present invention mounted thereon. Fig. 2 is avertical longitudinal sectional view on the line2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa horizontal sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4; is an enlarged detail sectional view showing the means for supporting the door when not in use. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view showing the attaching device at the lower end of one of the guide-cables. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view showing the manner of connecting the upper end of one of the guide-cables to the hanger therefor. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of a Wooden door having a metallic guide-flange.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in each and every figure of the drawings.

The reference character 1 designates a portion of an ordinary freight-car having the usual side doorway 2, which is capable of being closed by the usual outside slidable door. (Not shown in the accompanying drawings.)

In carrying out the present invention each door-post 3 is rabbeted or recessed throughout its inner edge, which defines the doorway, as at 4C, for the reception of a substantially U-shaped metallic guideway 5, having a securing flange 6 extending longitudinally throughout one edge of the guideway and let in flush with the inner face of the door-post. This flange is provided with a series of trans verse slots 7, through which extend fastenings 8 to connect the flange to the post, the slots serving to permit adjustment of the guideway and the guideway also serving to protect the inner edge of the door-post.

It is proposed to have the present door formed in one, two, or more sections, the present embodiment including two sections, (designated 9 and 10,) formed of wood or metal, as may be desired. As best indicated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, it will be seen that each door is provided at each of its upright edges with a transverse flange 11, working in the adjacent guideway 5, so as to permit ver tical sliding of the door and to prevent out ward displacement thereof, the guideways be ing effectually braced by the posts, into which the guideways are fitted.

For guiding the door in its vertical movement and in lieu of the usual iron guide-rods I employ flexible guide members 12, such as ropes or wire cables, the upper end of each rope being secured to a hanger 13, depending from a bracket 1 1, secured to the inner face of the side of the car. By preference this bracket is provided with a bifurcated post15, in which the upper end of the hanger is received and pierced by a fastening 16. As

best exhibited in Fig. 2, it will be noted that each hanger is provided with a series of zigzag bends or kinks constituting upper and lower seats 17 and 18, which are designed for use in supporting the door'in its elevated position, as will be hereinafter explained. The lower end of each guide-cable is secured to a screw-eye or bolt 19, which has its threaded portion passing loosely through an opening in a bracket 20, secured to the adjacent post, there being a nut 21 fitted upon the lower end of the bolt and engaging the under side of the bracket so as to take up slack,and thereby maintain the cable in a taut condition. Upon the inner side of each door adjacent the upper edge thereof is a pair of guide members, each of which includes an attaching plate or member 22, from which extends a shank 28, which passes beyond the edge of the door and beyond the flange 6 of the adjacent guideway, the outer end of the shank being provided with a loop or eye 24, slidably embracing the guide-cable so as to prevent displacement of the flanges of the door from the guideways.

The advantage of flexible or cable guides over the ordinary iron guide-bars resides in the fact that the cables are not permanently kinked when struck by pieces of freight in loading and unloading the car, and therefore there is no liability of the slides of the door becoming jammed upon the flexible guide members.

car, as indicated at 26, so that the bill of the hook is free to swing, and is extended upwardly between the hook and the door so as to receive the free edge of the latter upon the upper extremity of the bill of the hook. This hook is longitudinally slotted so as to receive a lever 27 which is fulcrumed at its forward end, as at 28, and has a toe portion 29 to bear upon the upper side of the door and grip the latter between the toe and the bill of the hook, the free end of the lever being projected beyond the hook and formed into a handle 30 for convenience in engaging and disengaging the lever with respect to the door. It will of course be understood that there is one such hook for each of the door-sections. As best shown in Figs. 2 and 4c of the drawings, it will be noted that the upper door is provided upon its inner side and at its lower edge with a plate 31, which extends below the door so as to lap the joint between the two doors. At the upper end of this plate is a substantially horizontal flange 32, constitutinga handle for lifting the door from the inside of the car, and at the middle of this plate there is a seat or recess 33 pressed in the outer face of the plate to receive the bill of the hook 25 when the door is elevated so as to prevent shaking of the latter and consequent disengagement from the hook.

Adjacent the lower edge of the lower door 9 and pressed in the outer face thereof there is a seat or recess 34:, similar to the seat 33, to receive the bill of a hook (not shown, but similar to the hook 25) when the door is elevated. Upon the outer side of the lower portion of the door 9 there is a cleat or ledge 35, beneath which a bar may be engaged to pry the door upward preparatory to elevating the same. A strip or cross-bar 36 is secured to the floor of the car across the doorway in position to be engaged by the lower edge portion of the lower va /gees door 9, against which the door is held by the pressure of the grain within the car, whereby fastenings for the door are obviated. Suitable handles 37 are provided upon the inner face of the door 9 for convenience in lifting the same from within the car.

Upon reference to Fig. 6 of the drawings it will be seen that the lower end of each hanger 13 is provided with a downwardlytapered opening 38, through which the cable 12 is passed downwardly, its upper end being enlarged, so as to wedge in the tapered opening, and thereby be secured to the hanger without extraneous fastening means.

The lower end of each guide-cable 12 is received within a ferrule 39, the lower portion of the interior of which is enlarged and pierced by a set-screw 4:0 to engage the cable and force the same against the opposite side of the ferrule, thereby to engage against the shoulder 41 and prevent endwise separation of the cable from the ferrule. At the lower end of the ferrule there is a hook 42, designed to be engaged with the screw-eye 19, thereby to adjustably connect the guide-cable to the bracket 20.

In using a wooden door (a portion of such a door being shown at 4:3 in Fig. 7 of the drawings) a metallic guide-flange 4A is secured thereto in any suitable'manner, so as to engage the adjacent guideways 5 provided upon the car.

Having fully described the invention, what is claimed is- 1. The combination with the side posts of a freight-car door opening having their inner edges rabbeted, of substantially U shaped channel-bars fitted in the rabbeted portions of the posts and provided with longitudinal flanges lapping the inner sides of the posts and having transverse slots, fastenings piercing the posts and the slotted portions of the flanges, the channe1-bars being adjustable laterally upon the fastenings, and a slidable door having flanges working in the U-shaped channel-bars.

2. The combination with a car having a doorway, of upper and lower brackets secured to the car at each side of the doorway, a hanger depending from each upper bracket and including a transverse seat which is open at one end, a cable connected to each hanger and the adjacent lower bracket, and a slidable door having guide-loops slidably embracing the respective cables and capable of being received within the seats and turned therein to swing the door upwardly toward the top of the car.

3. The combination with a car having a doorway, of upright ropes at opposite sides of the doorway, a vertically-slidable door having guides slidably embracing the ropes, and adjusting means to maintain the ropes taut.

4.. The combination with a car having a doorway, of upright ropes at opposite sides of the doorway, a vertically-slidable door having guides slidably embracing the ropes, pairs of brackets for the support of the ropes, and adjusting means carried by certain of the brackets for maintaining the ropes taut.

5. The combination with a car having a doorway, of upper and lower brackets at opposite sides of the doorway, ropes carried by the brackets, there being athreaded adjustment between one end of each rope and the adjacent bracket to maintain the rope taut, and a door having guides sliclably embracing the ropes.

6. The combination with a car having a doorway, of upper and lower brackets at opposite sides of the doorway, ropes hanging from LUDWIG A. THORSON. Witnesses:

W. A. MARIN, H. G. GUsTAFsoN. 

